UCLan fashion graduate designs Commonwealth Games kit

Louise Pullan graduated in 2003 from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) with a degree in Fashion Brand and Promotion. She was also the very first student on the then newly developed MA Fashion and Lifestyle Promotion.

In 2005, Louise joined Kukri; an international sportswear company that supplies custom-made sports kits to over 76 different sports teams worldwide. After initially starting off as a designer, she has since worked her way up to Group Project Manager. This means she is now responsible for a team of product designers and technicians at Kukri. Louise is currently based at Kukri’s main ‘clubhouse’ in Preston but due to the nature of her job gets to travel around the world working with Kukri factories and customers.

Kukri is also the official kit supplier to Team England, which means that Louise is now part of the England Commonwealth kit development. This is a huge opportunity not only for Kukri, but for Louise too, and their recent success has even made national news.

On Kukri’s official YouTube channel, Louise talks through the exciting process of being the Creative Lead/Group Manager for Team England sports kit design.

They started with the athlete’s requirements and then set about designing the kit. Louise and her team even went out on the road last summer, measuring and fitting over a thousand athletes to make sure that everything fit and that the athletes were comfortable. This also gave Louise and her team the chance to listen to the athlete’s feedback, which she explains is a crucial part of the design process.

Louise wanted to make sure the team was proud to wear their kit. Kukri did this by using the colours of red and white, which represent England. They also asked the athletes what the lion symbol meant to them. Feedback such as ‘strength’, ‘pride’, ‘passion’, and ‘honour’ were used, so Kukri made sure the design of the lion symbol reflected this.

Louise said ‘We’re thrilled to be the official kit supplier to team England. We created a kit that truly represents them. The England lion, and the pride and passion of representing your country. It’s been an honour’.